New computer: what do you think?

[ejoech]

I was hired to build a computer for someone, with a maximum price of $1200. Currently, they have a 450mhz/256mb/12gb Compaq. Here is what I think would be a good upgrade:

Abit KT7 Mobo = $131 from Microbarn.com
AMD Duron 800mhz Retail(want the heatsink) = $109 from comp-u-plus.com
256mb PC133 = $93.50 from 1st compu choice(forgot url)
45gb IBM HD = $158 from comp-u-plus.com
Floppy = $15 bucks from local store
Soundblaster Live! Value = about $50 bucks from local store
Guillemot 3D Prophet II MX 32mb = $157 from computerhq.com
3Com 10/100 NIC = about $50 bucks from local store
Viewsonic 17" Monitor = $200 w/ rebate (forgot model #, saw it at Microcenter the other day) from microcenter
Keyboard/mouse = $50 bucks? from local store
WindowsME FULL OEM (whats diff between OEM and retail?) = $97 from myinfinity.com
Speakers = around $60 bucks from local store
Case from coolcases.com(havent decided yet) = about 140?

All prices include shipping.

They already have a CD-RW and a DVD so they would like to use that on this system.


What do you all think? The total was $1,310.50

What do you think I should do to reduce it to below 1200 and so I also get a profit? Should I get OEM instead of Retail for some of the components? Any other opinions, pleae let me know.

Thanks,
Sage

 

[debosteevo]

$50 for a nic is expensive,

 

[ejoech]

I was just guessing..could be a little less..but still, I need to get 100-200 dollars cheaper.

sage

 

[arod]

The color case for 140
Get a cheap case w/ 300 watt ps

Dont go with winme if you already have 98 not worth the $100 upgrade.

Other than that it looks ok

Try allstarshop.com for everything but the processor (they dont have very good prices), you should be able to beat that quite easily.

I would also consider getting a lower speed tbird and overclocking it with a MSI k7t-2a board (110) at all star.

 

[debosteevo]

try getting retail from the internet and oem from dealers/stores around ur house. easier to hassle with if the unit turns out to be bad, and cheaper s/h

 

[ejoech]

OK, if I scrap WinME and use 98, that's 97 dollars cheaper, or $1,213.50 for a final price. What else should I get cheaper so I can make a little profit? I'm sure they would pay the extra 13 bucks, but I would like to make SOME profit .

-Sage

 

[Wah]

does that person need 256mb ram? 128mb vs 256mb won't make that much of a difference using win98/ME (although ram is really cheap right now...good time to buy).

 

[ejoech]

No, I doubt they do, they don't do anbything besides go on AOL and burn CDs and stuff, maybe the occasional game or two. However, their current computer has 256mb of ram, and I don't want to downgrade that, especially since ram is so cheap right now. If it was more expensive, I would probably only get 128mb.

Sage

 

[arod]

SKU NAME UNIT PRICE
800-14010 MSI K7T Pro 2-A Socket A VIA KT133 ATX AGP Motherboard $110.50 $110.50
990-49000A Enlight 7237 Mid-Tower ATX w/300 Watt power supply $57.00 $57.00
210-40048 Maxtor DiamondMax 60 46.1GB ATA/100 Hare Drive (BARE) $165.00 $165.00
110-00036 256MB SDRAM 32Mx72-7.5 PC-133 ECC 3.3V Unbuffered DIMM $155.00 $155.00
330-26010 KDS 17" VS-7i Digital Color Monitor $149.00 $149.00
120-24030 AMD Athlon Thunderbird K7 - 800MHz Socket A (OEM) $149.00 $149.00
960-63004 Thermaltake Golden Orb Heatsink + Fan for AMD socket 462/A 1GHz $14.00 $14.00
320-50012 Sound Blaster Live! Value 1024 PCI 1-Pack (OEM) $43.50 $43.50
325-10306 Altec Lansing ACS45.2 PowerCube Multimedia Speaker System $56.00 $56.00
450-44013 3Com EtherLink 10/100 PCI NIC for Complete PC Management (Card Only) $37.75 $37.75
310-51011 Asus V7100/T GeForce2 MX 32MB With TV-Out (Retail) $139.00 $139.00
220-52001 Floppy Drive 1.44MB 3.5" Sony Internal Beige (Drive Only) $10.75 $10.75

SUBTOTAL: $1,086.50

Get the tbird 800 and you should esily be able to get it to 1000 mhz!!! not bad for $1000
*BTW there is no keyboard/mouse here (didn't know if you wanted one)

 

[ejoech]

Wow, that sounds great! Where are those prices from and does it include shipping?

-Sage

 

[Yerdy]

Go with arod's rig. It's schweet!!

 

[arod]

Allstarshop.com

and no shipping is included but they are fair because i've bought stuff from them before.

(never any monitors so shipping could jump if you add the monitor)

 

[ejoech]

Thanks!

 

[Gumbo]

try www.pricewatch.com

 

[ejoech]

Hmmm...including shipping at allstarshop, it's $1,192.18. This leaves me only 8 dollars profit..I'd sure like to have at least a little more profit than that

What do you think I should downgrade? Or, can I get one of the items above for a lower price at a different store including shipping so I could get a little extra profit?

-Sage

 

[ejoech]

Nevermind that price, I Had to change something...

OK, let's see...I got..

Asus A7V KT133 Socket A ATX AGP w/o audio
Enlight 7237 Mid-Tower ATX w/300 Watt power supply
AMD Duron Processor - 800mhz Socket A(OEM)
Maxtor DiamondMax 60 46.1gb ATA/100 Hard Drive
256mb SDRAM 32Mx72-7.5 PC-133 ECC 3.3v Unbuffered DIMM
KDS 17" VS-7i Digital Color Monitor
Thermaltake Golden Orb Heatsink + Fan for AMD socket
Sound Blaster Live! Value 1024 PCI 1-Pack(OEM)
Altec Lansing ACS45.2 PowerCube Multimedia Speaker System
3Com Etherlink 10/100 PCI NIC for Complete PC Management
Asus V7100/T GeForce2 MX 32mb With TV-Out
FLoppy Drive 1.44mb 3.5" Sony Internal Beige
Microsoft Natural Elite Keyboard and IntelliMouse Combo

All of that, including shipping, from allstarshop.com for

$1,202.96

I'm sure they would be willing to be another 2 dollars and 96 cents, but I would like to make some sort of profit off of this. What can I downgrade that can get me some profit?



-Sage

 

[ejoech]

Any opinions? Come on guys..I gotta get in a quote by tonight and I'd like to have some sleep time

-Sage

 

[iceliquid]

Build the computer for them and just charge them accordingly for your time. That's what I did with this person. No one works for totally free

A possiblity is getting a 16mb card. If they're only going to do AOL, all they really need is an 8meg card since it's only driving a 17" monitor. That should knock off $100. 8megs is fine but better go w/ 16 just in case.

And also get the A7V w/ audio. I built 2 and they're great. They won't know or able to appreciate the difference if they're just usual users. That should knock off $40. And really, do u think they'll use 40 gigs? LOL. They'll probably use 5 gigs at most.

I had thought about this when someone asked me to build a computer for them. How much to include in the system. You could multiply your hours by what you feel is a fair wage and add that on top of the computer. Just get cheaper (slower) computer. Nothing is for free and they are paying you for your time.

BTW, the final price of the computer I built was around $1600 Good luck to ya!

 

[Shockwave]

Downgrade. Hell, if they say "No more then X" Then by damned thats what they get. Tell'em if they want a faster pc, you need more money. Go with 128 Meg ram, or 256 PC100. Will they notice a difference between PC133 and 100? Go with a 650 or 700 Duron. Its nice to give people sweet systems cheap, but if they set a price and you want some profit, hey, get the profit. Retailers do, why shouldnt you? Do they really need 45 gig HD? Try 30. Or give'm the good stuff and dont make a profit. Up to you!

 

[ejoech]

Thanks for your response...I've never worked with integrated audio..if I have that, then I won't need the Soundblaster, correct? They will be however listening to a lot of MP3s, so I think I would be best to go with the Soundblaster. The video card was a good idea though, I'm going to look into that. I spoke with the person and we are going to work out exactly how much she wants to spend, and what we both think would be fair to pay me. The reason I think we should work it out about paying me is because she's pretty rich and she may overpay at first I'm not trying to cheat her out of anything, I'll tell her if she's paying way overly for labor. I'm probably going to talk to her again tomorrow night so I'll let you guys know what's goin on. As if you really care

-Sage

 

[ejoech]

Shockwave -

Yeah, I may have to do that..I guess I probably will. Since I'm going to be needing the money up front, I can't charge for labor right away. How much do you think I should charge for labor?

-Sage

 

[arod]

charge by the hour!!!!! (i ususally charge $50 to build and $10 an hour to put it in/setup etc)

 

[arod]

ejotech

I wouldn't go with the ASUS board GO MSI like i said
Even andantech gave it the best athlon mobo!! It is really good and you will like all the stuff it comes with especially since it's cheaper than the ASUS board.. Iv'e had one for 6 months and it has not crashed once, ever running win98 which is rare

 

[arod]

I just keep adding on to this don't i

get the

SKU 310-17031 XPERT 2000 32MB AGP (White Box) $61.00 $61.00

*this is the card I used with the MSI board I built

 

[ejoech]

YAYYYY thanks Arod! Now I can make some profit
The only reason I was originally going with the Asus board was because the MSI board had integrated audio, and I've never used that before and wasn't sure how it went with a soundcard..because she'll be listening to mp3s, so I need it to have some good audio quality.

Thanks again,

Sage